Denison Landscaping can make your yard look like this, too! Photo courtesy of Denison Landscaping

Forty years ago, John Denison gave up the monotony of an office job to begin a family owned business: Denison Landscaping, Inc. John started out cutting azaleas in neighbors' backyards, and has grown Denison Landscaping into a highly successful business covering 1100 acres of land across three store locations in the mid Atlantic. 

Since their start, Denison Landscaping has become a top 30 ranked landscaping operation in the country. Additionally, the Denison family has gone above and beyond to make a greater positive impact in the community.

Josh and his brother wanted an innovative way to celebrate 40 years in business. After reading of another company planting 40 trees to celebrate 40 years in business, they thought -- we want to do more. "On some days, we plant 500 trees. We landscape everyday so just planting a tree is not enough, we want to make our work count in a much bigger way," said Josh.

So, to give back to customers, employees, and the greater community in a truly meaningful way, Josh decided to launch Denison Landscaping's 40 Green Initiatives.

He describes the 40 Green Initiatives as a living, breathing work in progress. Denison Landscaping is nearly 100% organic -- they use mainly salt, sugar and vinegar to grow the soil that in turn grows the trees (a totally natural approach to growing trees). Additionally, the Denison family is working to plant an in-house community garden for employees, as well as collaborating with local organizations on a river clean up. Along with these initiatives, Denison Landscaping is looking to recycle more of their daily waste, reduce company truck mileage, and this is just to name a few of the projects that make up the 40 Green Initiatives.

The Denison family can truly be seen as the original green stewards of the environment. And as Josh so eloquently put it, the 40 Green Initiatives are good for the economy, good for their business in the long term, and good for the environment as they strive to reduce their carbon footprint everyday.

This is what makes Denison Landscaping's celebration of sustainability so special -- anytime a green technology, method, or program can be implemented, the family adapts to bring that innovation to their business and community.

Clean Currents is doing something special today: we are eliminating 1,000 tons of CO2 from dirty fuel sources.

No, we're not shutting down your local coal-fired power plant (not today anyway). Instead, we want 100 households in Maryland, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania to make the switch to wind power in just 24 hours.

How are we going to do this? We're getting out of the office and talking to people throughout Washington, DC, Maryland, and Pennsylvania about how easy it is to support renewable energy.

Today, do your part for the planet:

•  Not on wind power? Make the switch yourself!
• If you're a customer and refer friends today, we'll thank you with up to $100 of free electricity
• Can't become a customer right now? Tell someone else to make the switch and tell us who it was via email or social media and we'll send you a special thank you

Being wind powered is one of the easiest things anyone can do to decrease his/her impact on the planet. One wind powered home for one year is equivalent to planting a football field full of trees or AND you'll no longer be paying for dirty energy every month.

By switching to wind power, you can prevent the loss of 600 gallons of water for every megawatt-hour of wind energy generated.

Help us AMPLIFY THE EFFECT TODAY! Spread the word and spread the love for the planet at www.cleancurrents.com.

And follow the Clean Currents team today @CleanCurrents and at facebook.com/CleanCurrents

Clean Currents takes the lead in the Carl Dolan Memorial Race!

This past weekend, the Clean Currents Energize Responsibly team headed to the Carl Dolan Memorial Bike Race in Columbia, MD. This annual event is organized by DC Velo, the bike team we are proud to sponsor. I have never attended a competitive bike race before, so I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that the races were in a Columbia office park, and I was a little skeptical about how energizing or inspiring this could be.

When we pulled into the parking lot around 8 AM, I was totally blown away by the energy. The junior races had already started and Ryan, one of DC Velo's elite riders was giving an animated live commentary. (He did this all day before racing himself). It was amazing to see the camaraderie between the DC Velo riders as well as their competitors from other teams. There were racers of many levels and our very own Kristin Schulz had a great time in her first race! Stuart from DC Velo generously lent her his racing bike, which she later found out, was worth more than her car.

Racers stopped by the Clean Currents tent after competing to grab a packet of wind powered Michele's Granola and a bottle of B'More Organics for their recovery snack and to take the pledge to Energize Responsibly.

It's hard to capture the feeling of the race day, but it reminded me of what I feel like when I finish a long run. That euphoric runner's high was in the air the whole time.  All in all, it was the kind of day that inspired Energize Responsibly: a group of people outside, being active and doing what they love. And it was fantastic to see participants learn about Maryland's poor air quality and commit to doing something to clean up the air by taking our pledge.

Join those who have already taken the pledge today!

Also, check out DC Velo in the Energize Responsibly video

Insider account from DC Velo rider, DJ Brew:

Carl Dolan has been a race that I had always wanted to win even before I was on DC Velo.  Obviously because we were hosting the race, and because of how commandingly we won the race last year, we were the team being watched and the team to beat.  It also didn't help that I had just won the day before, so the pressure was definitely on. It was great having [new racers] Baremore, Mittlestadt, and Greg Wood.  We don't race with these guys often, but they can roll!

Our strategy was pretty much the same as Chantilly.  We wanted to be smart and conservative.  We knew none of the other teams wanted a field sprint because they didn't have a Bozak or a Brew in their lineup.  If a breakaway went it had to have one of us in it, and we were only going to work with it if there was two of us in it. 

The race started exactly how you would've expected it to.  People tried to attack and would either be brought back because of the wind, or because Sommers, Stein, Baremore, Jason, or Ryan were on the front bringing it back.  We were definitely being smart about where we made our efforts in the early part of the race.  At some point Ben Fredrick from Kelly and Jose Escobar from Harley had attacked and got a pretty good gap.  I saw Ryan signal, and without hesitation I jumped across to the move and saw that no one had come with me.  Knowing that Fredrick and Escobar are two strong guys I decided to see what we could make happen in this little move, so immediately the 3 of us started to rotate and the gap started growing. 

I was a little conflicted because we had said in our meeting that we wouldn't work in a break that only had one of us in it, but on the other hand, I also knew I was feeling good and that I thought the 3 of us could stay away the whole time, and I knew that I could take the two of those guys in a sprint.  I decided to keep working and taking measured efforts on the front, that is until my race radio (my wife) said "Ryan said sit on."  I immediately stopped taking pulls.  My two breakaway companions realized what was happening and both tried to attack me but weren't able to get away. 

With 5 laps to go, Meidhof had bridged up to our group, with 3 chasers behind him and the field closing in behind them.  With 4 laps to go, the whole field was back together and we had a brand new race.  There was a flurry of attacks happening off the front and I just surfed wheels to make sure I still had legs left for the field sprint that I knew was coming.

Now here is where it's confirmed that I race with some of the best riders in all of MABRA.  At some point coming into one lap to go, I hear Ryan and ask Jason, "Should I go?" and Jason says "No, get in front of me and we're going to win this thing!"  For me, when you know you have guys that believe in you like that, how can you lose?

Ryan comes past me with Jason and Bozak on his wheel and I hop on to the back.  Sommers and Baremore and Stein are already at the front and we start ramping it up.  A couple guys were trying to fight their way into our leadout, and Bozak obliged because he knew it would only work to our advantage.  Ryan had taken a huge pull before the last corner, and Jason took over the front.  Again, he put in such a monster effort on the downhill that no one was able to come around.  Jason pulled until the hill leading to the finish and those guys that snuck into our leadout were left on the front.

As soon as they hesitated, Bozak went around them at 500m to go and opened his sprint with me on his wheel.  I sat on until 350m to go and opened my sprint.  It was the perfect leadout because we were able to carry so much speed into the hill that as soon as I started my sprint I could already feel that I was starting to pull away.  The problem was that I still had 200 more meters to go.  Basically I did three separate sprints to get me to the finish line first.

A big thanks goes out to all the guys that raced with us for the win.  This one was definitely a team effort.

We know because last weekend was Mayor Nutter's citywide Spring Cleanup Day and the 2nd annual Philly Farm and Food Fest. The sun was shining and blossoms in full bloom for Saturday's spring cleanup day, which brought thousands of Philadelphian's out to sites all over the city. The Mayor's office provided all the necessary rakes, shovels, gloves, and bags for each site as trucks drove by to pick up all of the gathered trash.

Communities gathered to clean up parks like Jefferson Square Park in South Philadelphia with students from Nebinger George W elementary school. Children and parents enjoyed the sun while spreading mulch, painting benches, and picking up liter. It was great to see this community coming together to make Jefferson Square Park a green and clean space that everyone can continue to enjoy.

The fun continued at Sunday's Philly Farm and Food Fest. The Pennsylvania Convention Center was packed with cheerful fest-goers, vendors and exhibitors from around the region eager display their finest local goods. As you entered the hall, the smell of delicious treats wafted through the air and ornately decorated tables drew in fest goers .

Clean Currents talked with fest-goers about clean energy and asked them to share with us, "What do you do to be green?" We got great answers from "growing our own veggies" to "composting with worms". The atmosphere inside conveyed that there something for everyone from local cheeses, baked goods, freshly shucked oysters, libations, to homemade soaps and potted herbs.

Just down the hall, Clean Currents hosted a workshop entitled "How green is your café?" The room was full of people eager to hear what our panel of leaders in the restaurant industry had to say about implementing sustainable practices into their business. Our panel featured: Angelo Anastasio- Owner of Greenable Design, Justin Rosenberg-Founder/Partner of honeygrow, Tia MacDonald-Director of Culinary Operations for the Vetri Foundation for Children & Nicole Marquis-Owner of Hip City Veg.
Our panelists spoke about their vegan menu, environmentally conscious interior building designs, community nutrition initiatives, and relationship with local farmers. The 2nd annual Philly Farm and Food Fest was a success and Clean Currents was honored to be part of a growing local food movement in the region.